Today’s keynote brought a whole new line of MacBook Pros to the world, and some new TV features too. Get a first look right here.
The keynote started off with some exciting new Apple TV announcements. Don’t get your hopes up: There’s no new hardware this time around.
Apple is well aware of all the different apps on tvOS: Over 8,000 of them have launched over the years.
Tim Cook said Apple wants to present a unified TV experience, which they plan to do with their all new TV app.
Think of the TV app as an RSS feed for your show-watching app subscriptions. It rolls all of your currently watched shows from across apps (Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and Amazon for example), giving you access to them in one convenient place.
TV also syncs with your iOS devices to provide a seamless watching experience.
The app also rolls all your show-purchasing options (like iTunes) into one convenient place as well.
The TV app is launching in December for tvOS and iOS.
The star of the event was definitely the MacBook Pro. Three new versions were announced, all with a number of hardware upgrades.
Apple updated their butterfly mechanism to create a “more responsive” typing experience.
There are also some impressive new display statistics.
Look at the size of that trackpad! It better have some pretty good wrist rejection.
It may have leaked yesterday, but the aptly named Touch Bar was definitely the star of the show.
It’s replacing the function keys with a context-sensitive multitouch bar.
The center of the bar will change depending on what app is active. However, you can set some always-there buttons if you need volume controls that don’t disappear.
The right side of the bar features a Touch ID sensor that you can use to log in, use Apple Pay, and unlock secured apps.
The T1 security chip features secure enclave, making it able to secure Apple Pay transactions.
The new MacBook Pros are thinner and lighter, so Apple had to redesign their cooling technology.
Apple says it’s vastly superior to previous cooling tech.
Tired of that super-quiet MacBook Pro? The new one claims to be louder.
The new Pro comes with four ports, and they’re all USB 3 Thunderbolt.
In one of the coolest new features mentioned, Apple revealed that each Thunderbolt 3 port is capable of serving as any one of the above ports.
You can even use any port to charge your MacBook Pro.
Apple showcased specs for the new MacBook Pro, compared to the last generation 13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple also compared the features of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with its previous generation.
Apple also announced a 13-inch MacBook Pro that will come with function keys instead of a Touch Bar. It’s thinner than the MacBook Air and is designed to upsell current Air users to a new Pro.
All three are available to order today. The 13-inch model without a Touch Bar will ship today, and the other two models will be headed out within two to three weeks.
Brandon is a Staff Writer for TechRepublic. He's an award-winning feature and how-to writer who previously worked as an IT professional and served as an MP in the US Army.
